Black Tern

Black Terns dip, dive, swoop and spin in dizzying foraging flights, picking insects neatly off the water's surface or catching them in mid-air. Even in stiff winds, these dark terns knife through the air with ease. Synchronous foraging flocks of Black Terns occasionally number in the hundreds. Unfortunately, these dizzying displays are less commonly encountered now, because populations of this bird have declined since the 1960s. Black Terns also occur in Europe, Africa and Asia. In order to spell this tern's genus name correctly, one must misspell chelidonias, the Greek word for 'swallow.' When the Black Tern was initially described and named, the author accidentally left out the 'e,' a mistake that must now be perpetuated.

Chlidonias niger

I.D.: Sexes similar. Breeding: black head and underparts; gray back, tail and wings; white undertail coverts; black bill; reddish-black legs. Non-breeding: white underparts. In flight: long, pointed wings; shallowly forked tail.

Size: L 9-10 in. (23-25 cm);

W 24 in. (61 cm).

Range: uncommon migrant and local breeder north to the southern Canadian Rockies; increasingly rare northward.

Habitat: shallow, freshwater cattail marshes, sloughs and lake edges with emergent vegetation.

Nesting: typically at lower elevations throughout Canada and the northern U.S.; usually in colonies; on matted vegetation on the surface of the water among emergent vegetation; builds a small platform of loose, dead vegetation; incubates 3 eggs for up to 3 weeks.

Feeding: snatches insects from the air, from tall grass and from the water's surface; also eats freshwater fish.

Voice: greeting call is a shrill, metallic kik-kik-kik-kik-kik; typical alarm call is kreea.

Similar Species: none.